Among the other unpleasant aspects of having the disorder diabetes mellitus is the need to frequently test one's blood glucose concentration. With current technology a diabetic patient must prick his own fingertip or other body part to withdraw blood.
A number of solutions have been directed at easing this discomfort and increasing monitoring and control by using an implantable or insertable sensor, for continuous glucose monitoring. Ease of use is not only an important consideration from the perspective of patient comfort, but also from the perspective of patient health. The easier it is for a patient to take his blood glucose level reading, the more frequently he is likely to do so. In turn, with more frequent measurements, the patient is likely to do a better job at regulating his glucose level and thereby avoiding chronic complications in which body tissue is damaged by toxic glucose levels or acute complications in which the patient is in danger of entering a state of hypoglycemic shock. Moreover, by more frequently measuring his or her glucose levels, the patient will likely form a better understanding of his body's response to the consumption of varying types of food and of varying degrees of physical exertion. The better the patient understands his body's response characteristics the better he will be able to tailor his eating, exercise and insulin injection or ingestion regime. In addition to the frequency of measurement, the accuracy of the measurements that are taken is also of great importance.